Season 13 of Bravo’s hit reality cooking series Top Chef premiered this month, which made us wonder: what do winners do after taking home the grand prize? We took a trip down memory lane to catch up on all of the champions, way back to the first season in 2006. Insidermonkey experts look into this matter and made a complete article on the 10 most successful Top Chef contestants and where are they now.

A few learning: More often than not, Top Chef winners go on to open their own restaurant (or two or three of them). Only three out of 12 Top Chefs are women, and some are more high-profile than others. Some have won James Beard Awards, while others have found careers in television. Many have opened or are planning on opening fast-casual concepts. You can also check our list of the 10 most expensive restaurants in the world.